PGA Tour fans debate Tommy Fleetwood controversy at Charles Schwab Challenge
PGA Tour fans have been debating whether Tommy Fleetwood's birdie should have counted after waiting a considerable amount of time on the 18th hole at Colonial Country Club.
Tommy Fleetwood was made to wait over his birdie putt on the 18th hole in the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at famed Colonial Country Club. A little too long, considering to some PGA Tour fans.
Fleetwood, 34, sent his 30-footer for birdie onto the left edge of the cup on the par-4 18th.
It looked for all the world that his TaylorMade TP5 pix was about to drop, but it somehow remained above ground.
Fleetwood couldn't believe it, and neither could his playing partners.
But as Fleetwood walked slowly around the back of the hole, his ball eventually dropped and the crowd went nuts.
Fleetwood's birdie saw him finish the week at 8-under par in a tie for fourth.
It marked a 27th career top-five finish for Fleetwood on the PGA Tour.
But he has yet to still win on the circuit.
Some PGA Tour fans considered Fleetwood waited far too long for his ball to drop into the hole on 18.
Others thought he played well within the rules, which ultimately was the official decision.
Under the rules of golf, a player has a "reasonable time" to walk to the hole and then "10 more seconds" to see if the ball falls in.
If the ball doesn't fall within 10 seconds, then the ball is treated as at rest and the player must play it. However, if the ball falls in after the 10 seconds, it's still counted as a hole-out, but with a penalty stroke added.
A large number of PGA Tour fans, at least on social media, deemed Fleetwood took longer than necessary to wait for his ball to drop in to the cup on 18.
Those against the length of time Fleetwood took consider a number of PGA Tour players have been docked shots in the past for taking just as long as the Englishman.
Si Woo Kim at the RBC Heritage, for example.
Even the headline on the PGA Tour website read: 'Tommy Fleetwood's birdie putt takes an age to drop on final hole at Charles Schwab'.
Anyway, the birdie-three counted for Fleetwood and he chalked up a second top-five finish in his last three starts on the PGA Tour.
The result also bumped Fleetwood into the automatic qualifying spots for the 2025 European Ryder Cup team.
What do you make of it? Scroll down to watch...
Check out the thread below to see what PGA Tour fans are saying about Fleetwood's putt.
Watch what happened below:
🚨⏳⛳️ Tommy Fleetwood waits forever as the ball finally drops. He finishes -8 and is 4 back. pic.twitter.com/DUsN1dKtLb
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 25, 2025
Fleetwood will now look to continue his good form and win a first career title on the PGA Tour at this week's Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
Andy first joined the brand on a month's work experience back in April 2011, and he now assumes the Editor role. When Andy joined GolfMagic it was a small site with potential.
